Rotary dump



Feb. 15, 1949. I E. RAMSAY 2,461,771

? ROTARY DUMP I Original Filed Oct. 30 1944 5,Sheets-Sheet 1 ER EKINE HAMEAY INVENTOR.

ATTOR EY Feb. 15, 1949. E, RAMsv 2,461,771

ROTARY DUMP Original Filed Oct. 30, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 EREKIN E RAIYIEAY- INVENTOR.

BY I 4 1754 (M TORNEI E. RAMSAY ROTARY DUMP Feb. 15, 1949.

Original Filed Oct. 30; 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 EREKINE RAMEAY INVENTOR.

v K I JTTORNEI? Feb. 15, 1949. E. RAMSAY 2,461,771

ROTARY DUMP Original Filed Oct. 30, 1944 s Sheets -Sheet s ERS-KINE RAMSAY INVENTOR.

Patented Feb. 15, 1949 STAT Es: P TENT "FFl-1CEj ROTARY DUMP ErskineRamsay, Biriningham,.Ala. Original application October -30; 1 944. Seri'aFNo.

560,930. Divided and this application sptembet- 8*, 19.45,.SeriaLNo. 615;1'85

' This application ispa division of my previously, file'diapplication -l Serial No. 560,930,v filed October 3%;1 4

/ 'This invention; relatesv to a. mine haulage systemim which an. endlesscable is employed to haul= minecarsy into and out of a mine, which cars engagethe cable with'a detachable grab, anchhas; for an -,,object. the: provision of apparatus.

ofs'theycharacter designatedwhich shall include; a v

rotany dumpvthroughwhichi the cable passes and whichris.adaptedatodump the'cars while in longitudinal motion; 7

A further object of my invention is'to provide,

in-a mineahaulagesystem, a rotary dump having .meansltozenga esandsupport the cars while be,--

in rotated: through; an. angle of, 180 and while.

movinggzlongitudinallyt through the dump.

Mine; haulage systems have; heretofore: been: proposed in .which; an endless cable was-runover parallel, tracks inazmine tunnel or-slope andin whichthercarspengaged the cable with detachablegnabslmountedon the. ends'of thecars; All such.

' apparatus: with which .Ii-amfamiliar 'entailedafrequent starting; and stopping, of. the. drive; means. for: thezcable;.and1for detaching the. loaded cars. asvthey camenutzof the-minefor passage through the-rotary dump. This. necessitated: the employ merits oirconsiderable manual labor for; placing. thecars im the: rotaryidumpand removing them therefromz, and afterwards for re-engaging them:

with the-scabies.

Inraccordancewith; my present; invention, I employrtheendless; cable andg'the: parallel tracks; math-e mine,zandincludeintthe driving" means forv themable, .ai:relatively =largezsheave atzthe head of;

- the: tip-plev beneath; and around: which :the track:

nunsrg andz'providerme-ans: associated with the sheave; for; engaging the". mine car grabsrand carr'ylngvthemaround thetrack andthe sheave... I 'also provide'a rotary dump through whichlth'e 2 The refuse, which from a coal ,minewould; consist; principally of slate, is:dumpedbeneaththetippler and-whenthe space isrfilled up, I contemplate the. provision. of crossnconveyers for carrying the refuse laterally. away from thertipple.

Apparatus. embodying, features of my invenz tion is illustrated in. the accompanying drawings, forming a part of. this-application, in..which-.,

Figs. 1. and}. are plan views; of a mine having;

a my improved: system installed therein;

Fig. 31s a. sectional-view takenalong'the line. III-III of: Fig. land draw-ntma-largerscale;

Fig. 4. is an elevational view: showingthezde livery. end of the. system];

Fig. 5 is a plan View of the, cable drive means-l employed with my improved-haulage. system;

Fig. 6 is a sectionalviewtaken along-the lines endless cable. passes; which rotary dump'evisz adapted to dump the cars and right themwhile thew are still: in motion longitudinally through the dump. By the means employed; there is=no necessity of uncoupling'thecarsfrom-the cable in order" to dump them and accordingly" they are; l iau'led out of the mine, dumped, an'd'returned emptyintotheminewithout ever becoming un-- coupledfrom* the cable:

ll'rliyinvention furthermore contemplates the construction; especially with new mirieworkings, oia-tipple built ontrestle work; together with screening; washing; end-classifying means for the values beneathithe'headof the-tipp1e whereby tlieva'l ixes may be sortedandfloaded forshipment? Fig. 7 is. an elevational view,.partly'insection, of; the car dump employed with. my improved system;-

Fig. 8 is asectionalviewtakenalong thelines- 9 =is a., fragmentaryrplanz view of. the drive, sheave;- for thecable;

Fig, 10. isa; sectional view. taken along; the. lines of: Fi .9;

@ Fig. 1'1. is-a diagrammatic view showing the:

orntunnelza tipple: l2; At-the lower end" of the slope or tunnel l0, drifts" l3 'and. l4 may branch" to: portions: of: the mine: being worked. It will; be: understood? of coursewtliati the: showing justz described is; merely illustrativev of amine working-::to; which my improved hauling systemv may) be applied: and 'thati itc isadaptable: for-var;-

ions-other workings.- Within thetxslolpe'. orr'tunnel III are parallel tracks l6 land I! upon which mine carsmime adapted; to run.. The cars: l8 are;

hauled out of, and returned: into, the mines by.

means of an endless cableil 9 which passes around: a drive sheave 2| at the head of thetipple l2; and around an idler' sheave ZTat" the innermost end of' tlrl'e' slope or tunnel ID. The: drifts I 3 and: 1 may also-be providedi with'- parallel tracks and;

3 with separate, endless cables 23 and 24, each separately driven as by means of a motor 26, and drive sheave 21, operatively connected to the motor 26, as by means of a drive belt 28.

The cars l8 are detachably connected to the cable l9 by means of a grab 29 which is pivotally mounted at 3| on one end of each of the cars and which includes an arm 32 extending laterally and terminating in an upwardly opening V shape bend or notch 33. The pivotal mounting 3| includes a sleeve 30 which serves as a bearing for the lower end of the grab 29. See Figs.

12 and 13. The sleeve 30 is also mounted to rotate in a vertical plane by meansof a bolt 35- which secures it to the end ofthecar The grab is held in an upright position by meansuof a pushed into position for loading where there is a minimum of head room. The cable l9 rests in the V-shaped. notch'33 by gravity, and the notch being offset from the pivotal mounting .3! by reason of the lateral arm 32, grips the cable 19 with a frictional grip varying with the resistance to the pull on the cable. At the lower end of the slope or tunnel 10, near the idler sheave 22, I provide a pulley 34, over which the cable 19 is adapted to run and which raises the cable out of the notch 33 and disengages it from each car 18 as it approaches the lower end of the tunnel whereupon the detached cars are again loaded and hooked onto the cable. See Fig. 11. If desired, pulleys such as 34, disposed to raise the cable l9 out of the notches 33, maybe placed in the tunnel at various points where it is desired to disengage or uncouple the cars from the cable. For example, it is desirable that cars be disconnected from the cable in order that they may be run into the side workings represented by the drifts l3 and i4. Accordingly, a pulley 3 4 should be located at each point along the cable I9 wher it may be desired to uncouple the cars. 7

As shown in Fig. 4, with new workings, the tipple I2 is constructed to extend out of the mine at a relatively steep angle and is constructed on trestle work 36 and 31 which is intended to be of a temporary nature to be filled in with refuse from the mines indicated by the irregular line. The outer or head end of the tipple i2 is supported by means of beams 38 and overhangs a hemispherically shaped washing, screening, and classifying structure 39. In this structure, the values unloaded from the cars 18, for example coal, is delivered first to sizing screens 49 where it is separated as to sizes and delivered to a washing floor 45. 'After being washed, screened, and classified, the coal is loaded in bins such as indicated at 4! and 42, and the refuse from the washers, into a bin 43 from which they may be loaded in railroad cars 44 on tracks 46 runnin beneath the structure 39.

At 41 and 43, I indicate rotary car dumps which will be described in detail later; It is contemplated, especially with a new mine working, that two such dumps shall be employed, the first being employed for dumping slate orother refuse beneath the tipple l2 to fill in around the trestle work and the second for the values, or coal. Later on, the dump 41 may be dispensed with and both the values and the refuse dumped by the rotary dump 48 and the refuse conveyed laterally away from the tipple.

Referring now to Figs. 5, 6 and 9, the drive sheave 2| is supportedby a suitablestructure, such as the reinforced concretefoundation 49 4 shown in Fig. 6. It comprises a gear 5| having secured to the underside thereof the sheave portion proper 52, in which the cable [9 runs. As shown particularly in Figs. 9 and 10, the sheave portion 52 is provided around its periphery with fingers 53 which are adapted to engage the grabs 29 to haul the cars around the head end of the tipple, beneath the drive sheave 2|, where the tracks I6 and I! join. As shown in Fig. 9, the fingers 53 are formed with relatively widely diverging angles 54, whereby the grabs 29 may retain their grips on the cable l9.

The drive sheave 2| is driven from a motor 56 supported by the structure 49, and having two sprocket wheels 5'! and -58 mounted on the upper end of its shaft 59. The sprockets 51 and 58 drive chains GI and 62, which mesh with sprockets 63 and 64, respectively. The sprockets 63 and 84 drive shafts 86 and 61, mounted in bearings 88 and 69, which in turn are supported by frame work 65 mounted on the foundation 49. The sheave 2i and gear 5| are supported by roller bearings 19 mounted as shown in the foundation 49. At the lower ends of the shafts 66 and 61 are pinions "H and 72, which mesh with the gear teeth on the gear portion 5|, to drive the sheave.

Except as otherwise specified herein, the car dumps 47 and 49 are constructed and operated in a manner similar to the car dump shown in my prior Patent No. 1,787,762 dated January '6, 1931. Reference is accordingly made to said patent for their details of construction and manner of operation.

In accordance with my present invention, the cars pass through the rotary dumps, being drawn by the cable i 9, and the grabs 29 are so positioned on the ends of the cars that the V-shaped notch on each is eccentric to the center of rotationof the riding rings l3 of the rotary dump which aids in holding the cable in place in the grabs 29 while a car is being dumped. Preferably, the cars l8 are constructed as shown and described in my co-pending application Ser. No. 542,018, filed June 24, 1944, and have outwardly curved sides 14 and 76. In order to provide substantial support for the cars while they are in the rotary dump and are being turned to dump the contents thereof, I provide a plurality of roller bearings I1 and '19 which fit the outwardly curved sides 14 and 79 of the cars. The rollers 11 and 18 are supported by means of steel beams 19 and 8! extendin longitudinally of the dump and secured to the riding rings 73. By this means, when a car enters the rotary dump, and is turned through an angle of 180 or less to dump the contents thereof, it is supported by the roller bearings Ti and I8 and does not have to stop its travel through the dump." It is contemplated that the cars 18 shall travel at a rate of from to feet per minute, which gives ample time for them to be dumped and righted while in one of the dumps 41 or 48. I v

The riding rings 13 are adapted to rotate in either direction to dump the contents of a car either into a chute 82, or into a chute 83 both located beneath and leading laterally from the dump. When dumping into the chute 83the riding rings 13 rotate clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 8, and a vane 84, pivoted at 86, centrally beneath the clump is turned by means, not shown, to the full line position shown in Fig. 8 to cause all material to flow down the chute 83. When dumping into the chute 82, the riding rings rotate counter clockwise and the vane 84 is turned to its dotted line position shown in Fig. 8. Where coal and refuse from the mine are being handled, for example, the coal may be directed down the chute 83 to the classifying and screening structure 39. If a car contains refuse or slate, the vane 84 is turned to the dotted position shown in Fig. 9 so that the refuse is dumped into the chute and be carried away laterally from the tipple by any suitable means, not shown.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have devised an improved mine haulage system by means of which the products of a mine may be economically removed and disposed of in a minimum of time and with a minimum of labor. It will furthermore be apparent that this improved system embodies an improved cable driving and car dumping mechanism which obviates the necessity of uncoupling the cars from the cable as they are brought out of the mine.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications, without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a mine haulage system including an end- V-shaped frictionally engaging grabs on the cars disposed to engage the cable, roller bearings mounted in the sides of the dump to engage the cars as they are hauled through the dump and of a length corresponding to the height of the sides of the cars and inwardly curved between their ends to fit against the sides of the cars and hold them as they are rotated.

2. In a rotary dump, a moving endless cable passing through the dump, mine cars having outwardly curved sides, grabs on the cars disposed to engage the cable to haul them through the dump, roller bearings mounted in the sides of the dump to engage the cars as they are hauled.

through the dump and of a length corresponding to the height of the sides of the cars and inwardly curved between their ends to fit against the sides of the cars and hold them as they are rotated, and means to rotate the dump as the cars are being hauled therethrough.

ERSKINE RAMSAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 539,063 Lauenroth May 14, 1895 571,828 Conklin et a1 Nov. 24, 1896 1,539,205 Ramsay May 26, 1925 2,263,504 Krueger Nov. 18, 1941 

